UX CASE STUDY — TRAVEL — 2024
PACK AT LAST
YEAR
PLATFORM
DISCIPLINE
DOMAIN
“How can we create a solution that alleviates the stress of last-minute packing and helps travelers feel more organized and in control?”
01 — INTRODUCTION
Overwhelmed and Unprepared: Tackling the Chaos of Last-Minute Packing
Packing for a trip can quickly become stressful and chaotic, particularly for travelers who delay preparing until the last minute. With only hours left before departure, they may find themselves staring at an empty suitcase, unsure where to begin and anxious about forgetting something essential. The combination of limited time, too many decisions, and uncertainty about what they will actually need often results in rushed, disorganized packing—or makes the task feel too overwhelming to start at all.
This experience creates more than the risk of leaving important items behind. It places an unnecessary mental burden on travelers, replacing the anticipation of an upcoming trip with frustration, anxiety, and a sense of being unprepared. This case study explores the following question: How might we reduce the stress of last-minute packing and help travelers feel more organized, prepared, and in control before departure?
02 — RESEARCH
What Makes Packing Stressful?
Through user interviews, short surveys, and online observations, we found that packing stress is mainly caused by information overload, unclear entry requirements, uncertainty about how much to bring, and last-minute preparation. Long lists and conflicting advice make essential tasks difficult to identify, while limited knowledge of the destination can lead travelers to overpack or forget important items. When preparation is delayed, these decisions become even more stressful and disorganized.
Competitive Landscape
Apps such as Time2Pack and Packr generate detailed packing lists with little effort from the user. However, presenting too many suggestions at once can create information overload, especially when many items are irrelevant to the trip. This reveals an opportunity for a more focused experience that introduces recommendations gradually and adapts them to the traveler’s destination and needs. Our broader analysis revealed four useful design directions. Task-management apps show the importance of presenting a clear overview instead of overwhelming users with numerous disconnected tasks. Weather services can provide destination forecasts that support more relevant clothing recommendations. Checklist apps suggest an opportunity to replace dense text with images and recognizable icons, while relaxation apps demonstrate how friendly visuals, subtle animations, calming audio, and guided breathing can reduce anxiety during last-minute packing.
03 — DEFINE
Meet Our Persona
Emotional Emma is a 28-year-old freelance designer living in New York City. She is detail-oriented but disorganized, forgetful, and easily overwhelmed when preparing for a trip. Emma wants a packing list tailored to her destination, weather, and planned activities so she can remember essential items without overpacking. However, last-minute preparation, lengthy checklists, changing travel needs, and uncertainty about airline baggage rules often make her feel stressed and tempted to abandon the process.
Current-State User Journey
The journey begins with excitement but becomes increasingly stressful as planning and packing introduce too many decisions. Emma feels briefly relieved when she leaves, only to become overwhelmed again after realizing that an essential item is missing. The greatest opportunity is to provide clear priorities and timely guidance before last-minute anxiety takes over.
04 — DESIGN
Packing Meets Peace of Mind: Pack.Calm
Pack.Calm transforms last-minute packing into a calm, guided experience. Designed for travelers who feel disorganized or overwhelmed before departure, the app combines personalized recommendations, timely reminders, and simple organization tools to help users pack what they need without facing another exhausting checklist.
Wireframing and User Testing
To validate the proposed experience, we tested the wireframe with 15 participants. Each participant was asked to imagine packing the night before an international flight and complete the preparation flow without assistance. All 15 participants reached the intended outcome, resulting in a 100% task-completion rate.
Flow 1: Plan Your Trip
Flow 2: Pack Your Essentials
Flow 3: Pause and Reset
DESIGN SYSTEM
Pack.Calm uses a soothing green-blue palette inspired by the ocean and sky to connect travel with a sense of calm. Montserrat provides a clean and approachable typographic hierarchy, while rounded buttons and simple line icons make interactions feel friendly, consistent, and easy to understand.
High-Fidelity Prototype
User feedback informed the final refinement of Pack.Calm’s colors, button layouts, and navigation. The resulting prototype creates a clearer and more reassuring experience for travelers preparing at the last minute.
1. Landing
Users can log in or create an account. New users provide a small amount of travel-related information so the experience can be personalized to their needs.
2. Plan a New Trip
Users enter essential trip details such as their destination, dates, and purpose. Pack.Calm uses this information to prepare more relevant packing recommendations.
3. Start Packing
Pack.Calm presents the packing list section by section, helping users focus without facing everything at once. Users mark items as packed and receive destination-specific alerts about weather or entry requirements. Before completion, the app summarizes anything left unpacked and allows the user to review those choices.
4. Take a Break
If packing becomes overwhelming, users can enter Take a Break mode directly from the packing flow. Calming music and guided breathing exercises provide a brief pause before they continue.
05 — Conclusion
The Afterword
Pack.Calm reimagines last-minute packing as a calmer and more manageable experience. Through user research, testing, and iterative refinement, the project transformed common frustrations into a guided solution that helps disorganized travelers feel prepared, focused, and in control.